The Stanford Case Keeps Getting Messier

Phew. Allen Stanford is all good and back in the slammer. We were worried for a minute.

The fraudster had surgery for aneurysm on his leg yesterday, which was discovered after a first operation Monday. Guess all the stress is getting to him and we kind of understand.

First, his lawyer lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, has asked for permission to quit the case because he doesn't have assurances he will be paid. Then, we learned that his CFO is forced to work on a farm for $10 an hour to pay legal fees. There was also the revelation about the bizarro blood oath ritual business, and now, even the court-appointed receiver hired to clean up Stanford's mess is pissed off.

The Houston Chronicle reports that Ralph Janvey, the court-appointed receiver, is defending his request for fees of $27 million for the first 14 weeks of work but the SEC is trying to cut 20% off them. So now, he has had to hire attorneys too.

Janvey referred to the SEC criticisms as "shrill objections" and suggested the agency pays "very limited attention to what the receiver does on a day to day basis, or they have a limited understanding [side note, given the unveiling of the SEC/Madoff debacle yesterday, we get his point] of what a receiver must do when faced with a task as daunting as gaining control of the Stanford entities and their assets."